The future of AI seems to be leaning towards “proactive” systems, which can anticipate and fulfill user needs even before they are recognized. IrisGo, a promising startup, is making strides in this direction by developing a desktop companion for PCs. This innovative tool, supported by a $2.8 million seed round led by Andrew Ng’s AI Fund, aims to learn and automate users’ daily workflows with minimal human intervention.
Founded by Jeffrey Lai, a former Apple engineer instrumental in creating the Chinese version of Siri, IrisGo seeks to simplify tasks by remembering processes after a single demonstration. For instance, it can automate ordering a coffee online by recording the steps once and repeating them autonomously. However, the broader ambition is to handle a range of business tasks, from drafting emails to processing invoices and building reports.
IrisGo includes a “skills” library for various automated workflows and learns from user interactions to expand its capabilities. It also features a coding assistant to aid developers, akin to OpenAI’s Codex. Targeted at knowledge workers, the platform aspires to shift office work from manual to more autonomous processes, allowing humans to focus on high-level tasks while the system manages clerical duties.
One of IrisGo’s standout features is its strong on-device data processing, enhancing privacy compared to cloud-reliant applications. While some complex tasks are processed via the cloud, this occurs only with user consent and is protected by end-to-end encryption.
To bolster its credibility, IrisGo has aligned itself with notable figures and organizations. Support from Andrew Ng, a pivotal figure in deep learning, has been crucial. The startup, backed by Nvidia and Google as well, recently launched beta versions for macOS and Windows. It is actively seeking partnerships with laptop manufacturers for preinstallation, having already secured a deal with Acer.
